NATIONAL PASTORS' PRAYER NETWORK PRAYERS + PRAISE UPDATE 990807 As The Spirit Leads You: * >Bring These Names & Needs To The Lord * >Distribute Them To Intercessors * >Photocopy For The Members Of Your PPG As You Pray For The NPPN: ...We Are Focusing Our Prayers On City-Wide, Cooperative Efforts ...We Are Asking The Lord For 2,000 Pastors' Prayer Groups By Year End 2000 ...We Welcome Responses As You Hear The Spirit Speak To You On A Certain Matter *Visit NPPN On The Web--->http://www.homestead.com/nppn "The best defense against the devil is to maintain a humble heart before the Lord." Francis Frangipane, The Power of Covenant Prayer, Creation House __________________________________________>>> SUPPORTING ONE ANOTHER IN PRAYER From: "CEPInsider" A few years ago at the Seattle Special Olympics, nine contestants, all physically or mentally disabled, assembled at the starting line for the 100-yard dash. At the gun, they all started out, not exactly in a dash, but with a relish to run the race to the finish and win. All, that is, except one boy who stumbled on the asphalt, tumbled over a couple of times and began to cry. The other eight contestants heard the boy cry. They slowed down and looked back. They all turned around and went back. Every one of them. One girl with Down's Syndrome bent down and kissed him and said, "This will make it better." Then all nine linked arms and walked across the finish line together. Everyone in the stadium stood, and the cheering went on for several minutes. People who were there are still telling the story. Why? Because deep down we know this one thing: What matters in life is more than winning for ourselves. What truly matters in this life is helping others win, even if it means slowing down and changing our course. __________________________________________>>> "Even when the enemy was granted permission to sift my life, God used those times to train my hands for war. Indeed, in the very areas where Satan sought to destroy me, God has now anointed me to teach others how to overcome." Francis Frangipane, The Power of Covenant Prayer, Creation House __________________________________________>>> DALLAS - QUEST FOR UNITY >From: AQuest5609@aol.com What a blessing to read your report, and have printed it off to share with TNT, Thursday Network at Ten, the prayer group here in my home every Thursday. Our mission is to pray for the pastors of the Dallas Metroplex churches to come into unity for the purpose of reaching toward Mission America's vision. After reading your update and your request from jet lag, it reminds me of just how "big" the communication lag is in third world countries. But God, in His faithfulness, will provide the way, in His perfect timing. Henry Blackaby's answers that were reported recently from IFA, stated that every people group of the world has someone , or some organization that has committed to reaching them. It won't be too long before He will establish communication. With God, all is possible. Also, wanted to report that Dallas is well into the planning of a one evening seminar with Dr. John Perkins. Our purpose has been establishing a foundational group that want to "Cross the Line". We mean by that that we want to cross with intent lines that separate us in this community. We have established the John Perkins Leadership Council, so named in his honor. We will have meeting together for almost a year by the time of his visit. The group is a cross racial, interdenominational mix of church and lay leaders from all walks of life, responding to what they recognize as a crucial need in our city. We realize that we can talk about the need to heal racial wounds forever, or as Christians, we can pool our faith, courage, and resources, and dare to believe that there is something we can do right now. Please pray for this and for Dr. Perkins to be used mightily on Thursday, October 14, 1999, here in Dallas. Ann Quest, N.TX NDP and Perkins Co-Chair (Quest for Unity) __________________________________________>>> "Church history began with her leadership devoted to the Word of God and to prayer (Acts 2:42; 6:4). Every day the leaders gathered to pray and minister to the Lord (Acts 3:1). Today, however, our qualifications for church leadership include almost everything but devotion to God's Word and prayer." Francis Frangipane, The Power of Covenant Prayer, Creation House __________________________________________>>> PRAYING FOR SEATTLE -? >From: Jesse Miranda Thank you so much for the report on the city of Seattle. I will be in Seattle August 25-29. I will speak at the World Vision chapel service and will speak at a convention of the Greater Seattle Hispanic Ministerial Alliance. I covet your prayers for that meeting and for Seattle's capacity to receive God's message and for God's people to network with their Hispanic brethren. The church must be the change it expects to see in the city -unity! Thank you! __________________________________________>>> HOW ABOUT CHICAGO -? >From: pray@chicago2000.net Mission America Release - July 30, 1999 On August 31st, leaders from the media and every DMA (designated market area) in our nation will be gathering in Wheaton, IL along with several hundred pastors from the Chicago area, to receive training in Mission American's City Lighthouse Saturation Strategy. Participating in the leadership training for the day will be Dr. Paul Cedar, Ed Silvoso, AL Vander Griend, Jarvis Ward, Glenn Barth, E.K. Bailey, and John Qam with leaders of the Twin Cities Celebrate Jesus 2000 Leadership Team who test marketed this strategy with KTIS radio. We encourage you to come and bring with you a team of leaders, possibly including radio personnel, key pastors and business leaders who might be interested in carrying tout this vision to reach your local area. We are excited about what God is doing across America in giving us a strategy that will help to saturate every neighborhood with a lighthouse ministry. Register ($25 includes lunch / $100 for 5) by calling Howard Robbins: 630-942-1580 (Credit Cards accepted / Motel list provided). --->NPPNote: This gathering is vital! Please pray many pastors, city leaders and prayer mobilizers will be in attndance, both from the local region and from every state in the union! __________________________________________>>> TOLEDO, OHIO >From: Cuauhtemoc R Valdiviez Rev. Copi Valdiviez / DAWN Projects for Jesus The following is what I and many other clergy in our city is hearing the Holy Spirit say to us. Only God can bring us to our knees. And on our knees is where we will see His divine intervention, healing, and reconciliation with the Father and each other. Please pray for us: God is bringing His Spirit for repentance and reconciliation to this city. We have a choice to partake and participate in this as God moves in our midst or we can choose to ignore it. The choice is up to us. Let us pray... Oh God we come before you in Jesus Name. Hallowed be thy name. Oh God light a fire in the hearts of your Church in Toledo. We ask for your forgiveness and repent for our many sins against you. Move us from being self-centered to Christ Centered. Move us from being me minded to we minded. We, together make up Your Body. Oh God please forgive us. For you have put us here, in this city, to serve you together not separately. We repent for our arrogant religious attitudes. For attitudes of racial, spiritual and theological superiority. For attitudes of competition and the bitterness of past hurts. For fearing what we may loose by coming together in unity more than realizing what we will gain. Forgive us for expecting you to do things our way rather than looking for what YOU are doing and joining you. We have been expecting you to join us, to help us make our programs successful. Please forgive us. You don't need us to serve this city, we need you. Help us oh Lord. Forgive us for not being mission minded in regards to the people around us. The vast majority of our community is filled with people that don't know you. But we have been satisfied with retaining our comfortable congregations, retaining comfortable little youth groups, and running comfortable little programs that serve only a fraction of the population of this city, while the rest (the majority of people in our city) are going to Hell. While both rich and poor suffer through a life without Christ, we do church on Sundays which (for the most part) only serves ourselves. Forgive us oh God. We give people a spiritual drink, or a religious ritual and our people keep it to themselves. Give us the heart of a missionary. Make us missionaries in our neighborhoods, our place of business, and in our congregations. Give us your vision for how we can serve all the inhabitants of this city. Give us your vision for how we can serve this city together as the One Body of Christ worshiping in many places. But connected through relationships with one and another. Bring our clergy to the place of humility and give us a desire to pray together. Bring Evangelists to our city to partner with pastors, Bring ALL the functions of Your Body to operate fully without hindrance in Your Church of Greater Toledo. So we may have all the tools needed to serve all the people of our city. Make daily prayer a priority of our congregations. Give our people a desire and a discipline to pray daily. Oh God we repent. Unite us together through your Holy Spirit. Bring the Pentecostal, the Evangelical, the Mainline, the Roman Catholic, the Orthodox, the Charismatic, the Fundamental, the Brown, Black, Red, White, and Yellow colored Believers in Christ Jesus in our city together. Not as members of a specific organization, but as part of one divinely designed organism. Your Body, We are Bride for whom you will soon return. We love you Lord. We repent. Now show us your way forward from here. In Jesus Name, Amen. __________________________________________>>> INTERNATIONAL DAY OF PRAYER FOR CHILDREN OF WAR >From: Doug Lucas ) According to Ray, one out of every 115 people on earth has been forced into flight, and at least half of these are children. As Christians throughout the world come together in unity and spirit for the Children of War - International Day of Prayer, Ray and the folks at Mission Twenty Eight Nineteen would like to invite you to join with the thousands of intercessors in praying on the behalf of the millions of children who face the pains of war on this day, Saturday, November, 20th, 1999. For more info. on this special day, write . For a free subscription of Brigada's weekly missions publication, write __________________________________________>>> ON SITE RECONCILIATION >From: "Mary G. Morris" Written by Don Hinton: US SWN Coordinator, Wyoming...MAY 30, 1999... the far northwest corner of Wyoming. Ten internment camps for American citizens of Japanese descent were scattered across our nation, Wyoming's lay between Cody and Powell at the foot of Heart Mountain. Years of prayer and months of planning had brought us to this day. Many have prayed for a time when both Japanese and Anglo Christians would on site for face-to-face reconciliation. Our local teams had secured our legal access to the site and soaked the area in prayer! Pastors, prayer warriors, and the worship team had gathered from at least 5 states, many Wyoming cities, and numerous churches, some flying in from as far as Mississippi and Texas. Mary Morris, a Japanese descendent, a prayer leader, and member of California's US SWN team, came from Orange County, CA to join us. Mary is also a member of the US Asian Task Force, a body of leaders from the largest Asian ministries in America that are reaching out to America's millions of Asians. Mary herself was spared from living in the camps because an Anglo family became her Foster Parents in the midst of the war - a mother who hailed from Rock Springs, Wyoming gave her refuge. We gathered inside an abandoned building that once served as part of the hospital unit of the camp. How fitting we would be in the place of healing! Our worship team, Victory Fellowship of Cody, drew us into the Lord's presence. The Holy Spirit had led Don to walk back through the sins in an order that reflected the actions of our nation during the inception of these camps. We first prayed through the sin of racism, particularly against Asian peoples, that spread throughout the late 1800's and into this century. The impact of this prayer struck like a hammer, showing the shattered hearts of those there who had been victims of racism, as well as pounding the truth into our own hearts - most all have been guilty of this terrible sin against others. Tears flooded the floor and "warriors" became as little children. Next came the recognition of the Church's responsibility in failing to stand for godly conduct in our nation. This stand should have come long before the day the camps became a reality! The churches of Germany had stepped aside and allowed Hitler to sweep away godly government, we here in America did much the same in relationship to the Japanese-Americans because of our prejudice and fears. Although the Church across the nation did come along the internees once the camps were in place, it had failed to move pro-actively. The entire assembly entered into the prayer and repentance for this, and we felt a powerful sense of the Lord's presence! One of the most difficult areas now lay in front of us. The prayers to deal with theft. The Americans who were sent to the camps had been given less than 4 days in most areas to 'dispense' of all their worldly goods. For many this meant they literally had to give away homes, cars, business, and personal possessions of every nature. They were giving and blessing those around them even as they were being imprisoned. Our nation has made an attempt at reparation in this area, but nothing could repay the theft of "life and future" stolen from the families subjected to the internment. Members of families who had directly profited from the internment of these Americans were present and came forward. And then the spiritual leaders stepped up... "Forgive", they prayed, "for the children of promise who were stolen. Those who would have been open to the gospel had they not experienced this painful time...." It is no easy matter to deal with the Lord when we have stolen the lives and talents of others. As the layers began to peel away we found ourselves face-to-face with the one of the greatest problems found in the regions that surround the camps across the nation. We saw "the accuser of the brethren" - and we had empowered him. Little wonder that the areas are full of divisions, that Christian slanders Christian, and churches shatter their pastors. The ground cried out that those who were innocent had been accused by their neighbor, that false witness had been born against them. The door had been opened all across our nation, but like the Joshua of Zechariah 3 we had but one choice. Agree with God as to how He saw it. Worship Him. We took our sin to Him and turned our attention away from the evil one. We could only see this change if we stayed focused on God and no other. And we felt a change. We felt a healing that was visible in the hearts of the company! As we crossed the last two phases, the physical placement of shame and the wrongful claims the military made upon the internees to fight for a nation whose freedom they were denied, we felt we crossed a threshold. The door was opened before us to a new day, a new time of relationships, and we pray a final healing between the nations who were involved in W.W.II. In our very midst we saw friendships established and racism forgotten. We saw people come to love one another for the very first time. Flag dancers had led us into worship and now they brought forth the flags of victory - red and white flags that had flown earlier that day in praise to the King! We held high an American flag for every state and internment camp and prayed that each internee and their descendants would feel, at last, they were part of "One nation, under Christ". And we worshiped. Harvest Fields extends a special thanks to; the US SWN National Team, the Asian Task Force, and the Clark's Fork Warriors for Christ for their prayers and communication of support! P.S. We are already receiving reports of breakthroughs and spiritual awakenings in the last few day from churches dealing with Asian peoples! Praise the Lord! __________________________________________>>> DRUG DEALERS BEWARE! >From: Kentashi@aol.com Here's some exciting news I want to share with the NPPN. This Spring we (Beacon Hill Bapt. Church in Chicago Heights, IL) held a series of Prayer Workshops to equip and enrich the Body of Christ. At the last minute, I added on a Praywalking class. My neighbor and I have been prayerwalking in Park Forest for the past 2 years. We met for just an hour and a half. If was definitely an after-thought. GOD is GOOD! From this class we had eight Praywalkers (4 teams) emerge and volunteer to prayerwalk our community at 7 a.m. every Saturday. The vision: By our first meeting date, the assignment God had given for the Prayerwalkers was this . . ."Prayerwalk the Beacon Hill community (250 homes) 3 times, praying in depth the Lord's Prayer and B.L.E.S.S. 'ing the household and families therein. At the end of the Prayerwalk (Sept. 18th), gift each household with "The Book of Hope", excerpts from The Book. Enclose with each book the story of your "Jericho Walk", and tell them I love them, then celebrate!" Pastor Haskell was so excited and supportive; he told us to purchase not 250 but 500 booklets for distribution beyond the scope of our Jericho Walk. On Sept. 18, 1999 at 8 a.m. we are looking for 50 volunteers to hit the streets and help us gift the community with the "Book of Hope" and then we are having a SHOUT NOW! Celebration with Food and Praise on the Church grounds. Those of you in the Chicago Area who'd like to join us, please call Rev. Cheryl Dorsey (708) 747-1426. (Thanks, Pastor Phil - I found of the "Book of Hope" in one of those Prayer Resources Goodie Envelopes you so faithfully distribute.) PRAISE REPORT: The BHMBC Prayerwalkers also walked Hickory Street; this street is by any definition BAD. There is major drug dealing going on in broad daylight, gang activity, and prostitution. Many residents are held hostage inside by the crime and degradation outside. The street is frequented by people outside the community to 'make a buy.' Well, what a glorious experience. While praying up and down this street, we encountered drug dealers and gang members, as well as, people who would call out "God bless you" as we passed by. We hit strongholds and spiritual warfare overtook all the teams as we walked this street together from opposite directions. In one instance, we came against and bound illegal activities and enterprises of all kinds. We declared Hickory as God's territory. We thanked God for the salvation of all those who live on or travel down Hickory. We commanded that Satan let these people go, in Jesus' name. When we finished that day (Hickory takes 2 weeks to complete), we couldn't leave the church after the recap session. During recap, God impressed on all those present that we must go back and go it again. We stayed and praised the Lord for another hour or so. Yes, we praywalked Hickory again. Guess what? After the end of our 2nd trip, the Chicago Heights police made one of the largest drug bust's in their history. $1.7 million in crack cocaine, where? You got in a house adjacent to Hickory. Is God AWESOME or what!? Last note: one of the dealers who cruised slowly passed us often during our 4 week sojourn on Hickory Street, couldn't believe it when he changed territories. We saw him on another Beacon Hill street last week, and when he passed two of our teams, the look on his face was priceless. As if to say, "Oh no, not you guys again." Oh, yes, it's us! We're praywalking and we're coming to a street near you. PRAYER NEEDS: a) Volunteers for 9/18/99 and workers to glean the harvest God is going to give, b) Finances for purchases of materials for distribution, c) Salvation and Deliverance of Beacon Hill Comm., and d) Salvation for the drug dealer in the brown car ;) Thanks, Cheryl Dorsey, Prayer Coordinator, Beacon Hill M.B. Church, Chicago Heights, IL (Kentashi@aol.com) __________________________________________>>> CINCINNATI PRAYER DRIVE >From: "Rick" On July 31, 30 plus prayer warrior drove the "Jericoh Prayer Drive" around Cincinnati, Oh. claiming victory for Christ. Result were amazing our mail box filled with Good words from all walks of life. Our concern was the unity of the body of Christ and for the Jesus Video to be received well amoung both. We will schedule this 6 more times at different days and times Please pray for us and Revival to come to Cincinnati __________________________________________>>> HOW ABOUT YOU...YOUR PPG...YOUR CITY... Tell us how we can give praise and thanks for what the Lord has done Tell us how we can join you in prayer for your region --- Phil Miglioratti National Pastors' Prayer Network / US 715 East Golf Road, Suite 205, Schaumburg, IL 60173 Phone= 847-991-0153 Fax= 847-884-0928 http://www.homestead.com/nppn http://www.missionamerica.org/prayernetwork.html --->Unless clearly identified as "Personal To _____" or "Confidential" all information and comments sent to phil@nppn.org will be considered for use in a future NPPN Update. --->Send responses and information as "text" (rather than in a specific program). --->Copyrighted 1999. However, permission is granted to freely redistribute to those who will partner in praying for and sharing the Gospel of Jesus Christ with everyone in our nation and beyond. --->Opinions reflect the views of each author or respondent, not the NPPN or any other person or organization